How Nigeria Lost $18bn In 10 years – World Bank

By Tolulope Oke

According to the World Bank, Nigeria lost at least $1.8 billion annually as a result of the federal government’s protectionist policies between 2010 and 2019.

The World Bank highlighted that these import-restrictive policies have reduced domestic enterprises’ ability to compete globally and have increased the cost of manufacturing, increased consumer prices, and reduced their ability to export to regional and international markets.

“Nigeria lost $1.8 billion every year between 2010 and 2019 due to tariff evasion arising from protectionist measures.

“Nigeria’s trade policy has moved in a heavily protectionist direction, with an escalation of import restrictions through higher tariffs and levies, import bans, foreign exchange limitations, and border closures,” it said in the June edition of its Nigeria Development Update.

The federal government had closed the country’s land borders in August 2019 in a bid to curb smuggling.

A large increase in inflation followed the border closure, notably for food items that are subject to exchange rate limitations.

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According to the World Bank, the restriction only temporarily affected the movement of illegal commerce through Benin into Nigeria.

Moreso, people needed to spend an additional 1.8 percent of their income to maintain the same level of well-being due to the price rises that were seen between mid-2019 and 2020 as a result of the border closure.

The global financial institution further stated more trade openness could benefit Nigeria in achieving its long-standing policy objectives of economic diversification and industrialization.